Well, it's over. Nice to have met those who stopped by the booth. Sorry San Diego couldn't provide better weather for you. I can tell you from experience that fog this weekend beats the smoke you would have had the previous weekend. Hope to see you all again at the next one. We had a great time!
First it was just Intel-based Macs, now it's everyone (in 10.5).
Thanks to those who came out for our first-ever open house. It's always fun to put faces to the names and hear how shops are using C&P to manage their production and accounting. We do plan to do these on a regular basis, so if you missed this one, there will be plenty more. And there will be plenty of piña coladas and margaritas next time as well.
8/17 - Position Filled
If you know this stuff, please give us a call or send a resume.
After a bit of a wait in line on Friday, I'm proud to be one of the early adopters. There's already countless iphone reviews out there, so I won't bother here other than to say ASAP appears to work great.
And that other kind too.
Ok, here's one of those rare situations that we can't really prevent and you wouldn't think was worth mentioning, but it has happened on multiple occasions. Look carefully at the above screenshot and you'll see what's wrong with this picture.
Were the user to click save at that point, they'd get this window:
The user, hell-bent on ruining someone's day (and perhaps ending their employment) could then click yes and overwrite their company's database with their new, empty database.
Yes, it has happened. A user, trying to open their database, does have the ability to overwrite the company database. And, predictably, the last time this happened, the agency had no backup. Ouch!
Facts:
1. C&P users must have both read & write access to the database in order to connect. Unfortunately, a write permission also allows a user to overwrite. File Permissions 101.
2. For a user to pull this feat off, they would have to make four systematic bad choices:
a. Choose "New Database" instead of "Open Database" (which should rarely be needed anyway, since a user would most often be connecting to a database already in the list)
b. Name the new database identically to the old one
c. Click "save" (which should be a red flag since it doesn't say "open")
d. Ignore the warning and click yes to overwrite.
3. Because this and other catastrophes beyond everyone's control can happen, backups are critical.
For agencies stuck with employees that are prone to this sort of behavior, there is but one recourse - switch to a SQL backend. C&P Pro and Job Tracker users have the option of hosting their database (free of charge) using MySQL 5 Community Server or MS SQL Server 2005 Express Edition (as of C&P X 10.1, which at the time of this writing, is in the last stages of public beta). The pesky open and new buttons don't exist in those versions since the database is created and administered through other tools.
And here's further explanation. Guess they weren't kidding when they took "Computer" out of the name. Letting a consumer device take priority over OS X development isn't exactly encouraging, but I doubt it's a sign of things to come. The terms of our NDA with Apple forbid us from commenting on Leopard, but I can't say I'm upset at this delay (except I have to wait longer for Spaces).
This is handy.
Several times in the past, we've gotten burnt by buying products right before the new and improved version comes out. To combat that, MacRumors has put together a nice buyers guide. No guarantees to the accuracy since it's based on rumors, but before buying new Apple hardware, it's a good idea to check here.
Intel Mac users rejoice!
I'm sure many of our longtime users think we're a broken record preaching the importance of backups, but occasionally we do get calls from shops with horribly damaged or unreadable databases (usually by network events like server crashes, electrical storms, random acts of God) and no backup. It's probably the most painful call we ever have to handle at the helpdesk. Telling someone that their database is, in the technical jargon, hosed, hurts us, as well as the unfortunate client. It's an incredibly painful way to learn how critical it is to have a good recovery system.
There are many ways to ensure you're not one of the unfortunate few. It could be as simple as the first person in every morning burning a copy to CD or more complicated involving redundant media, offsites, firesafes, and safety deposit boxes.
Here's the heart of the system at C&P (yeah, it's not much to look at):
We start with a simple Windows XP machine running Retrospect. Every night, all applications which lock databases shut down and the entire backup is performed, copying from both OS X Servers as well as Windows servers. We backup to an Exabyte drive with rotating tapes (stored in a firesafe) as well as an external OWC firewire drive. There are two of these drives, and they trade places going offsite each week.
This entire system was not too expensive though there are cheaper ways to do it. UNIX-savvy folk can write cron jobs to automate their backup, including offsites in some situations. Whatever solution shops go with, make sure it includes the ability to recover from any individual day in the past week (two weeks is better) and that you send something offsite periodically in case a real disaster happens. Overwriting each night's backup and never taking anything offsite is only marginally better than no backup.
Just when I hoped that wireless networking would enter into a new era of stability, range, and speed, Macintouch wrote their review here.
Here's the key quote:
We couldn't help but feel that Apple's new 802.11n AirPort Extreme base station is a disappointing introduction to 802.11n. Our actual throughput was just 15-20% faster than 802.11g and far below 802.11n's promised potential.
Only if ALL devices are 802.11n compliant.
So this is where we spend most of our time. And just as well, since it's cold outside. That part isn't so fun, but it's nice to be back home (kinda - I grew up ~45 minutes from here). 10 years in San Diego has thinned my blood, but I feel like less of a wimp when I hear the locals complaining about the weather).
What's been really fun is talking to people about C&P who have never heard about it. So many different sorts of people can all benefit from C&P. From the freelance photographer to the mid-sized agency principle to the designer at the in-house marketing department of a large company, we really have something for everyone. Enough spin.
Thanks to those that have come by. It's been a pleasure to put faces to the names and shake hands. It was also a pleasure to eat black cod tonight, but I won't go into that. This town is a great place to eat.
So, before it got too crowded, I went over to check out the slowly-revolving and well-guarded iPhone.
(apologies for the poor quality pics)
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They've got two of these rotating displays, each with an Apple Inc. (not to be confused with the no-longer-existing Apple Computer) rep standing by to answer questions rapid-fire.
I do think it's pretty cool. The design appears intuitive, clean, and crisp. A typical Apple product. Oh, and it's expensive. I had hoped that Apple's recent trend towards competitive market pricing with computers would continue with this new device, but they're back to their old strategy: expensive, yet cool, and definitely a status symbol for the early adopter/zealot.
The primary "bummer" I'm hearing isn't the price, but the Cingular exclusivity. Even if it's true that the exclusivity is only for two years, that's still painful for a Verizon user enjoying in-network calling and 90%+ of contacts all on Verizon. I suppose if everyone I knew collectively switched over, that'd help, but most people I know won't spend $500 on a phone, no matter what else it does. I'd love to know what it cost Cingular for the deal, but for now it's a secret.
So I keep asking myself, "do I want it?" The answer is definitely "yes" but with an emphatic "but". I'd love to have a good web browser/camera/music player/email/phone onhand at all times, but $500 (or $600 for 8gb) is a lot of money. Also, Cingular. I've used them before and I had spotty coverage. Without a reliable signal, the iPhone is reduced to a small-capacity ipod with a camera. I've wanted a smart phone for awhile now, and I like that this is thinner than my current not-so-smart phone (LG VX8100 with original [bad] firmware, but more on that another time). Also, it's not out until June, so who knows what else will be competing by that time. This could definitely be a product that causes a cultural shift in what people think of as "computers" and where and how they "compute".
So, we made it, no thanks to the malfunctioning plane which kept us in our oh-so-crowded seats for far longer than expected as we took in the view of the runway in San Diego.
So, the Expo is big, crowded, and fantastic for people-watching. It was nice to meet several loyal C&P users today and show off the new 10.1 update. Not to pat ourselves on the back too much, but it's nice to be able to field virtually every "can it do ____?" question from those not familiar with the program with an enthusiastic "yes!"
So, here's a little brain teaser. What do these 2 pictures have in common?
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Give up?
They're both places where one should be able to use the internet for free (the first is a picture of the lamely named internet connection box in my hotel room, the 2nd is in the hotel lobby).
Now, I did know in advance that internet is not free in the hotel room. $12.95 per noon-to-noon period. I guess we could have stayed elsewhere, but we thought it good taste to stay in the HQ Hotel. When paying these kind of rates at the HQ hotel for a computer convention, one might expect something so fundamental to be complimentary. When I called a couple weeks ago to inquire about the internet, I was assured that there was public wi-fi in the lobby, so I figured that's at least a workable alternative, but when I tried it today, of course... no dice. Those at the front desk confirmed that they don't supply this basic service. What a disappointment. This great hotel which I booked us all at (and hotel chain which I used to so proudly be an employee of) dropped the ball.
So, leave a comment if you think I'm full of it and shouldn't expect free internet in a quality establishment. I'll try and find something more show-related to discuss tomorrow. I guess there was some hubbub about a phone....
(this blog entry brought to you courtesy of AirPort Express.)
10.1 is coming along nicely and we're looking forward to showing it off next week at Macworld. Come and visit us in the Apple Developer Pavilion (booth #S1338-19) or if you can't make it, visit here for pictures and (limited) coverage.
